This invention relates to soil mixtures and a soil distribution system, and more particularly, to an organic soil mixture and a soil distribution system that blows the soil mixture onto selected places on flat or sloped surfaces.
Healthy topsoil and vegetation that grows in the topsoil are natural and effective stabilizers of soil layers on flat or sloped surfaces. If topsoil is removed from an area on a surface due to a landslide, development, or erosion, the topsoil should be replaced to ensure continued stability of the remaining soil and vegetation on the surface. The topsoil can be replaced naturally over a long, long time, or the topsoil can be manually replaced in a much shorter time period. Manually, replacing the topsoil on sloped areas has proven to be a dual challenge. The first challenge is in creating a soil mix with balanced permeability and stability characteristics for the particular geographic location. The second challenge is to physically access the slope and deposit enough of the soil mix to replace the topsoil in an efficient and economically justifiable manner.
Nature""s process of death and rebirth creates the fertile topsoils, but nature""s process is very slow. In the fall season, when deciduous trees, shrubs, vegetables and perennials die back and leaves fall to the ground, decomposition begins. Decomposition cycles create layers of topsoil, so the topsoil builds up layer by layer over time with each decomposition cycle. The variety of plant materials supported in these soils differs as the soil changes. Plants that need a less nutrient-rich soil will grow and die back, continuing the decomposition cycle and as the soil richens in nutrients, the plant varieties will change accordingly, continuing to add to the decomposition and buildup of topsoil. Micro-organisms are a key ingredient in the decomposition process as they break down the particles into the necessary elements for fertile soil. It takes nature an incredibly long time to create just one foot of topsoil. Yet this process that takes nature so very long can be wiped away in one pass of a bulldozer, or by a landslide on a slope, or by the effects of erosion over a relatively short period of time.
Fertile topsoil is soil teaming with life. It contains beneficial micro-organisms, including bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, micro arthropods, earthworms and other insects vital to soil structure and nutrient distribution. The fertile topsoil has a natural balance of nutrient and mineral ingredients, it has the natural ingredients of the food chain, that supplies us with minerals through the plant materials and fruits that grow in the topsoil. Live, healthy topsoil also has a natural permeability and stability that facilitates healthy growth of vegetation. Healthy, living topsoil filters and/or binds pollutants before they can reach waterways or aquifers.
Many areas, such as agricultural land or areas where there is little or no crop rotation, such as vineyards or orchards, have been negatively impacted by the inability to get topsoil to replace soil deficient in nutrients, microbes, or organic matter in a cost-efficient manner. Traditional transportation of topsoil to these locations included hauling the topsoil from trucks or large topsoil deposits to the selected areas by wheelbarrows, buckets, bags or conveyors.
In other areas, erosion and the development of land often stunt nature""s progress with respect to topsoil. Hillsides are acutely vulnerable to topsoil erosion and, particularly in the Northwest region of the United States, are at risk for having a landslide activity. The same land characteristics that make hillsides vulnerable to erosion and landslides also make the hillsides difficult to repair. The steeper the slope, the more difficult it is to get people and equipment on the hillside itself in order to replace topsoil. It is also more difficult for standard topsoil to remain stable on the slope. Further, access to the slope is often very difficult because of existing site conditions, such as heavy vegetation, houses or other landscaping that prevents site access. Other hard to reach areas include landslide areas, waterfront hillsides where floating barges cannot land to off-load equipment and where slope severity does not allow equipment to descend, backyards with substantially no access, vineyards and orchards, and rooftop planters and container gardens.
Traditionally, repairing hillsides that were clear of obstacles included placing netting or other geo-tech fabrics over the repair area. However, both netting and geo-tech fabrics are cumbersome and expensive, and are not a realistic option when there are obstacles, such as existing partial vegetation cover, on the hillside. Geo-tech fabrics have the potential to damage roots by cutting or girdling.
Replacing the topsoil on a hillside encountered other difficulties including hillsides that were too steep to maneuver equipment on. Track equipment, such as excavators, bulldozers, track loaders, track hoes, motor graders, etc., can safely maneuver on up to a 3 to 1 slope. Manual work can continue on slopes steeper than 3 to 1, however, a 2 to 1 slope becomes difficult for manual work and virtually impossible for wheelbarrows.
Conventional techniques for replacing topsoil on steep slopes include using a chute system, in which one or more chutes are positioned over the hillside from the top of the hillside, and buckets full of topsoil are slid down the chutes as a means to manually bring the topsoil down to workers standing on the steep slopes. Conventional topsoil does not slide well on any surface due to its consistency, so the topsoil must be transported in the buckets down the chutes. This process is very labor intensive, and only works when access is available to the slope from the top of the slope, and the hillside is such that the chutes can be placed on the slopes and maneuvered as needed into particular areas for soil application across the hillside. Buildings, roads, or inaccessible areas on the top of the slope hamper the laying of the chutes, so the buckets are manually transported down the hillside without the benefit of a chute.
Bark, compost mulch, hydroseeding and pea gravel are all items that in the past have been used to cover existing topsoil or as a substitute for topsoil in inaccessible places. Each of these items do not provide the benefits of topsoil for stability and vegetation growth, and they retain many of the same disadvantages with respect to access to and application on hillsides, as discussed above. Importantly, these materials do not provide stabilization of the slope in the way that topsoil does. Bark and compost mulch are used as a cover mulch over an existing planted area. Hydroseeding is a process of spraying a liquid (e.g., water) and seed mixture over the top of existing soil. The hydroseed mixture is a binding mix to hold the seeds in position on the existing topsoil until they germinate. Pea gravel is used on slopes and in other areas to address drainage concerns.
A conveyor belt system has also been used to place soil in difficult places. The conveyor belt system, however, provides relatively imprecise placement of soil, and the system is not practicably useable in areas containing trees and densely planted shrubs without causing damage to these plants. Further, relocating the conveyor belt system to dispense the soil from the top, bottom or sides is time consuming and labor intensive.
The present invention overcomes the limitations of the prior art and provides additional benefits. Under one aspect of the invention, an improved soil mixture capable of being placed on a surface, including sloped surfaces either via traditional or selected placement means including placement by blowing the mixture into place. Under another aspect of the invention, this soil mixture is blown through a manipulatable distribution line onto the surface, including areas which may be substantially inaccessible.
Additional aspects of the invention include combining a selected aerobic compost tea with the soil distribution operations such that the tea is distributed and intermixed with the soil as the soil is blown into place. Under another aspect of the invention, sand, rich in potassium and trace minerals of prehistoric origin is distributed over the surface prior to blowing the soil in place and the soil is then distributed over the layer of greensand. Under another aspect of this invention, fired/calcined diatomaceous earth is added or substituted in the mixture to decrease initial surface moisture content but increase moisture retention capabilities. Under another aspect of this invention, dry mycorrhizal spores are added to speed the natural production of fungi. Under another aspect of this invention, a powdered or granulated corn glutin is added to prevent the growth of undesirable plants.
In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a soil distribution system adapted for blowing a soil mixture onto selected places on flat or sloped surfaces. The soil distribution system comprises a topsoil pump having first and second ends; a hopper connected to the pump at the first end; a first topsoil hose having a distribution end and a soil intake end, the first topsoil hose being connected to the second end of the pump via the soil intake end; a tank for holding a liquid soil mixture additive, the tank having an outlet portal; a second liquid additive hose having a discharge end and a liquid intake end, the second liquid additive hose being connected to the outlet portal of the tank via the liquid intake end; wherein the distribution end of the first topsoil hose and the discharge end of the second liquid additive hose are in operational relationship with each other such that when the soil distribution system is in operation, the soil mixture and the liquid additive are capable of intermixing during the blowing of the soil mixture.
In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a soil mixture adapted for use with a soil distribution system that is capable of blowing the soil mixture onto selected places associated with flat or sloped surfaces. The soil mixture comprises an organic fertilizer component that consists essentially of plant residues and a first animal excrement component, wherein the amount of the organic fertilizer component ranges from about 1 to 3 pounds per cubic yard of the soil mixture; a feathermeal component that consists essentially of ground poultry feathers, wherein the amount of the feathermeal component ranges from about 4 to 8 pounds per cubic yard of the soil mixture; an aggregate component that includes gravel, wherein the amount of the aggregate component ranges from about 1200 to 1600 pounds per cubic yard of the soil mixture; a composted organic material component that consists essentially of sawdust and a second animal excrement component, wherein the composted organic material component includes a plurality of discrete particles with each of the plurality of particles having a length of less than ⅝ of an inch, and wherein the amount of the composted organic material component ranges from about 200 to 700 pounds per cubic yard of the soil mixture; an organic waste component that is at least about 35% humic acid by weight, wherein the amount of the organic waste component ranges from about 20 to 30 pounds of the soil mixture; a kelp meal component that consists essentially of ground kelp, wherein the amount of the kelp meal component ranges from about 2 to 4 pounds per cubic yard of the soil mixture; a peat moss component in an amount that ranges from about 18 to 25 pounds per cubic yard of the soil mixture; a ground or granular rock phosphate component in an amount that ranges from about 0.5 to 3 pounds per cubic yard of the soil mixture; a sand component in an amount that ranges from about 100 to 700 pounds per cubic yard of the soil mixture; and a sawdust component in an amount ranging from about 155 to 300 pounds per cubic yard of the soil mixture.
In further embodiments, the soil mixture further has one or more of the following characteristics: the organic fertilizer component has a NPK rating (i.e., ratio of nitrogen to phosphorous to potassium on a molar basis) of about 6-4-4; the feathermeal component has a NPK rating of about 12-1-0; the sand component is greensand; the first and second animal excrements are the same or different. In still further embodiments, the soil mixture further comprises: a bloodmeal component in an amount that ranges up to about 3 pounds per cubic yard of the soil mixture (optionally the blood meal component has a NPK rating of about 13-1-0); a diatomaceous earth component in an amount ranging up to about 500 pounds per cubic yard of the soil mixture; a corn gluten component in an amount ranging up to about 8 pounds per cubic yard of the soil mixture; a plurality of mycorrihiza spores; lime in an amount ranging up to about 3 pounds per cubic yard of the soil mixture; an aerobic compost tea in an amount ranging up to about 5 gallons per cubic yard of the soil mixture; and a plurality of earthworms.